Nasdijj
Encyclopedia
Timothy Patrick Barrus is an American author who, under the pseudonym
Nasdijj, wrote three supposed memoirs of his experiences as a Native American
, which were published between 2000 and 2004.
Barrus portrayed an ancestral and personal history that was later determined to be false in most respects. He has not published since investigative reporting in 2006 brought this to light. His work has been considered one of the major examples in the United States publishing world of memoirs released under false or misleading pretenses. Prior to writing as Nasdijj, Barrus wrote gay
and sadomasochistic erotica
. He was born in Lansing, Michigan
, and has no known Native American ancestry.
in 1999 and was a finalist in the National Magazine Award
s that year. It was published as part of a collection under the same name. He won the 2004 PEN American Center
's Beyond Margins award, for The Boy and the Dog Are Sleeping.
In the specialist Native American journal, Studies in American Indian Literatures (SAIL), Marijo Moore
wrote, "Nasdijj has shed his blood that runs like a river through his dreams. Spilled it all over the pages of this book so that others might relate. Raw, poignant, poetic, and painful, Nasdijj's style of writing is refreshing."
The books which Barrus published under the name Nasdijj are:
Published as non-fiction
, each memoir purportedly recounted aspects of the author's life. The memoirs referred to his Navajo
heritage, his self-destructive and abusive parents, his unhappy childhood as a migrant worker
, his dysfunctional relationships with other family members, and his growing up to become a nurturing father. As an adult, he said he adopted and cared for a child with fetal alcohol syndrome
and then one who was HIV
-positive.
In a 2002 PEN Forum, in which authors were asked to describe "literary lineage", Nasdijj responded, "My literary lineage is Athabaskan
. I hear Changing Woman in my head. I listen to trees, rocks, deserts, crows, and the tongues of wind. I am Navajo and the European things you relate so closely to often simply seem alien and remote. I do not know them."
published an article, "Navahoax", proving that Nasdijj was in fact an ethnic European American named Timothy Patrick "Tim" Barrus. He had been married twice, and his second (and current) wife was Tina Giovanni. He was the biological father of at least one daughter. The article noted that Barrus was previously known as the author of fiction relating to gay sado-masochism
.
Extensive media coverage followed the story's publication. A former literary agent for Nasdijj, while not confirming the LA Weekly article, called it "well researched and highly persuasive." News & Observer
, a North Carolina
newspaper that had published some of Nasdijj's work, confirmed that it had on file a social security
number that matched that of Tim Barrus. Esquire magazine revealed that it had paid for a 1999 Nasdijj article with a check made out to "Tim Nasdijj Barrus".
The LA Weekly article, "Nasdijj Shops Tell-All", noted these developments and quoted an e-mail from Nasdijj to an editor at Penguin Books
offering a novel for publication called Year of the Hyena: The Story of Nasdijj. The article presented excerpts from Nasdijj's blog with the headline, "Deserving Death for Evil Deeds, by Tim Barrus". It quoted, "What you want to believe you want to believe. If I am the devil incarnate then I am the devil incarnate." Subsequently, Nasdijj's blog was deleted from its host TypePad
.
Notable Native American author, Sherman Alexie
, commented on the controversy. In an article for the February 6, 2006 issue of Time magazine, Alexie wrote,
Author David Treuer
described Barrus' actions as "harmful cultural fraud", while activist Suzan Shown Harjo
argued, "There should be a law for the Navajo Nation to sue Barrus for the profits he made while committing the crime of stealing tribal identity."
Attention to the hoax
's exposure was heightened by near-simultaneous revelations concerning other literary scandals: writer James Frey
had made up portions of works published as memoirs, and purported author JT LeRoy
was created as a performance by one person, with published works that had been created as collaborations between two others - none the teenage boy of poor background as represented in interviews and content. One commentator noted that "the convergence of all three scandals at once had the feel of a Triple Crown
of hoaxery, with the grand losers being accuracy, truth, and literature itself."
In May 2006, Esquire published "Nasdijj", an article for which author Andrew Chaikivsky interviewed Barrus, his second wife, his daughter, and others. The article describes a man whose "shifting emotional temperature" veered between "meticulousness and careful good manners" and "a full roar." Speaking of his imposture, Barrus was quoted as saying, "I understand that a trust was violated. I'm not defending it," and "It was a good run." In the course of the interviews, Barrus's claims included acquaintance with Robert Mapplethorpe
, being encouraged to write by Tennessee Williams
, and adopting a developmentally challenged child with his first wife during the mid-1970s. Chaikivsky stated, "Over the three days I spend with Barrus, I don't believe much of what he tells me." The adoption may be verifiable by court records which are currently sealed. The article noted that Barrus was at work on a new book he described as "a sprawling, novelized account with chapters credited to Barrus, Nasdijj, and several HIV-positive teenage boys who claim to have lived in a shelter run by Nasdijj."
In May 2007, Virginia Heffernan
of The New York Times
s "Screens" blog reported that Barrus had "found a home on YouTube
", where he was posting "Nuyorican
beat-style stuff", which she described as "irritable, pretty, autodidactic, engrossing."
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Nasdijj, wrote three supposed memoirs of his experiences as a Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
, which were published between 2000 and 2004.
Barrus portrayed an ancestral and personal history that was later determined to be false in most respects. He has not published since investigative reporting in 2006 brought this to light. His work has been considered one of the major examples in the United States publishing world of memoirs released under false or misleading pretenses. Prior to writing as Nasdijj, Barrus wrote gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
and sadomasochistic erotica
Erotica
Erotica are works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or sexually arousing descriptions...
. He was born in Lansing, Michigan
Lansing, Michigan
Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...
, and has no known Native American ancestry.
Publication and recognition
As Nasdijj, Barrus received widespread recognition as a writer on the Native American experience. His essay, "The Blood Runs Like a River Through My Dreams", was published in EsquireEsquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
in 1999 and was a finalist in the National Magazine Award
National Magazine Award
The National Magazine Awards are a series of US awards that honor excellence in the magazine industry. They are administered by the American Society of Magazine Editors and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City...
s that year. It was published as part of a collection under the same name. He won the 2004 PEN American Center
PEN American Center
PEN American Center , founded in 1922 and based in New York City, works to advance literature, to defend free expression, and to foster international literary fellowship. The Center has a membership of 3,300 writers, editors, and translators...
's Beyond Margins award, for The Boy and the Dog Are Sleeping.
In the specialist Native American journal, Studies in American Indian Literatures (SAIL), Marijo Moore
Marijo Moore
Marijo Moore is a writer with mixed Cherokee/Dutch/Irish ancestry, who frequently draws on her Native American roots in her poetry. Among other awards, she was given the title of Writer of the Year by the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers, one of the most prestigious awards in...
wrote, "Nasdijj has shed his blood that runs like a river through his dreams. Spilled it all over the pages of this book so that others might relate. Raw, poignant, poetic, and painful, Nasdijj's style of writing is refreshing."
The books which Barrus published under the name Nasdijj are:
- The Blood Runs Like a River Through My Dreams (2000),
- The Boy and the Dog Are Sleeping (2003) , and
- Geronimo's Bones: A Memoir of My Brother and Me (2004).
Published as non-fiction
Non-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...
, each memoir purportedly recounted aspects of the author's life. The memoirs referred to his Navajo
Navajo people
The Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
heritage, his self-destructive and abusive parents, his unhappy childhood as a migrant worker
Migrant worker
The term migrant worker has different official meanings and connotations in different parts of the world. The United Nations' definition is broad, including any people working outside of their home country...
, his dysfunctional relationships with other family members, and his growing up to become a nurturing father. As an adult, he said he adopted and cared for a child with fetal alcohol syndrome
Fetal alcohol syndrome
Fetal alcohol syndrome is a pattern of mental and physical defects that can develop in a fetus in association with high levels of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Current research also implicates other lifestyle choices made by the prospective mother...
and then one who was HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
-positive.
In a 2002 PEN Forum, in which authors were asked to describe "literary lineage", Nasdijj responded, "My literary lineage is Athabaskan
Athabaskan languages
Athabaskan or Athabascan is a large group of indigenous peoples of North America, located in two main Southern and Northern groups in western North America, and of their language family...
. I hear Changing Woman in my head. I listen to trees, rocks, deserts, crows, and the tongues of wind. I am Navajo and the European things you relate so closely to often simply seem alien and remote. I do not know them."
Hoax controversy
In January 2006, the LA WeeklyLA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
published an article, "Navahoax", proving that Nasdijj was in fact an ethnic European American named Timothy Patrick "Tim" Barrus. He had been married twice, and his second (and current) wife was Tina Giovanni. He was the biological father of at least one daughter. The article noted that Barrus was previously known as the author of fiction relating to gay sado-masochism
Sadism and masochism
Sadomasochism broadly refers to the receiving of pleasure—often sexual—from acts involving the infliction or reception of pain or humiliation. The name originates from two authors on the subject, Marquis de Sade and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch...
.
Extensive media coverage followed the story's publication. A former literary agent for Nasdijj, while not confirming the LA Weekly article, called it "well researched and highly persuasive." News & Observer
The News & Observer
The News & Observer is the regional daily newspaper of the Research Triangle area of the U.S. State of North Carolina. The N&O, as it is popularly called, is based in Raleigh and also covers Durham, Cary, and Chapel Hill. The paper also has substantial readership in most of the state east of...
, a North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
newspaper that had published some of Nasdijj's work, confirmed that it had on file a social security
Social security
Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...
number that matched that of Tim Barrus. Esquire magazine revealed that it had paid for a 1999 Nasdijj article with a check made out to "Tim Nasdijj Barrus".
The LA Weekly article, "Nasdijj Shops Tell-All", noted these developments and quoted an e-mail from Nasdijj to an editor at Penguin Books
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
offering a novel for publication called Year of the Hyena: The Story of Nasdijj. The article presented excerpts from Nasdijj's blog with the headline, "Deserving Death for Evil Deeds, by Tim Barrus". It quoted, "What you want to believe you want to believe. If I am the devil incarnate then I am the devil incarnate." Subsequently, Nasdijj's blog was deleted from its host TypePad
TypePad
TypePad is a blogging service from company Say Media . Originally launched in October 2003, TypePad is based on Six Apart's Movable Type platform, and shares technology with Movable Type such as templates and APIs, but is marketed to non-technical users and includes additional features like...
.
Notable Native American author, Sherman Alexie
Sherman Alexie
Sherman Joseph Alexie, Jr. is a writer, poet, filmmaker, and occasional comedian. Much of his writing draws on his experiences as a Native American. Two of Alexie's best known works are The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven , a book of short stories and Smoke Signals, a film...
, commented on the controversy. In an article for the February 6, 2006 issue of Time magazine, Alexie wrote,
"So why should we be concerned about his lies? His lies matter because he has cynically co-opted as a literary style the very real suffering endured by generations of very real Indians because of very real injustices caused by very real American aggression that destroyed very real tribes."
Author David Treuer
David Treuer
David Treuer is a writer of Ojibwe and Jewish descent. He was born in Washington, D.C. and raised on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota. He attended Princeton University and was graduated in 1992 after writing two senior theses, one in the anthropology department and one in...
described Barrus' actions as "harmful cultural fraud", while activist Suzan Shown Harjo
Suzan Shown Harjo
Suzan Shown Harjo is a well-known Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee advocate for American Indian rights. She is a poet, writer, lecturer, curator, and policy advocate, who has helped Native peoples recover over a million acres of land...
argued, "There should be a law for the Navajo Nation to sue Barrus for the profits he made while committing the crime of stealing tribal identity."
Attention to the hoax
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
's exposure was heightened by near-simultaneous revelations concerning other literary scandals: writer James Frey
James Frey
James Christopher Frey is an American writer. His books A Million Little Pieces and My Friend Leonard , as well as Bright Shiny Morning , were bestsellers...
had made up portions of works published as memoirs, and purported author JT LeRoy
JT LeRoy
Jeremiah "Terminator" LeRoy was a pseudonym created by American writer Laura Albert. The name was used from 1996 on for publication in magazines such as Nerve and Shout NY. After his first novel Sarah was published, "LeRoy" started making public appearances...
was created as a performance by one person, with published works that had been created as collaborations between two others - none the teenage boy of poor background as represented in interviews and content. One commentator noted that "the convergence of all three scandals at once had the feel of a Triple Crown
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
of hoaxery, with the grand losers being accuracy, truth, and literature itself."
After "Nasdijj"
After the scandal broke, J. Peder Zane, the News & Observers book-review editor, who had published some of Nasdijj's work and promoted his writing, reflected, "I felt no sense of betrayal. I knew it wasn't personal. Barrus hadn't conned me; I had just drifted into the black hole of his life, which sucked the trust out of everything within reach."In May 2006, Esquire published "Nasdijj", an article for which author Andrew Chaikivsky interviewed Barrus, his second wife, his daughter, and others. The article describes a man whose "shifting emotional temperature" veered between "meticulousness and careful good manners" and "a full roar." Speaking of his imposture, Barrus was quoted as saying, "I understand that a trust was violated. I'm not defending it," and "It was a good run." In the course of the interviews, Barrus's claims included acquaintance with Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe was an American photographer, known for his large-scale, highly stylized black and white portraits, photos of flowers and nude men...
, being encouraged to write by Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
, and adopting a developmentally challenged child with his first wife during the mid-1970s. Chaikivsky stated, "Over the three days I spend with Barrus, I don't believe much of what he tells me." The adoption may be verifiable by court records which are currently sealed. The article noted that Barrus was at work on a new book he described as "a sprawling, novelized account with chapters credited to Barrus, Nasdijj, and several HIV-positive teenage boys who claim to have lived in a shelter run by Nasdijj."
In May 2007, Virginia Heffernan
Virginia Heffernan
Virginia Heffernan is an American journalist. In March, 2011, she began to write regularly about digital and pop culture for the Opinion pages of The New York Times. She is also known as a television critic for The New York Times, and as "The Medium" columnist at The New York Times Magazine. In...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
s "Screens" blog reported that Barrus had "found a home on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
", where he was posting "Nuyorican
Nuyorican
Nuyorican is a portmanteau of the terms "New York" and "Puerto Rican" and refers to the members or culture of the Puerto Rican diaspora located in or around New York State especially the New York City metropolitan area, or of their descendants...
beat-style stuff", which she described as "irritable, pretty, autodidactic, engrossing."
As Tim Barrus
- My Brother My Lover. Gay Sunshine, 1985. ISBN 9780917342080
- Anywhere, Anywhere. Knights Press, 1987. ISBN 9780915175215
- Genocide The Anthology. Knights Press, 1988. ISBN 9780915175284
- Selective Service (with Robert McCartney-Moore). Knights Press, 1991. ISBN 9780915175390
- To Indigo Dust. Knights Press, 1992. ISBN 9780915175413
As Nasdijj
- The Blood Runs Like a River Through My Dreams (2000)
- The Boy and the Dog Are Sleeping (2003)
- Geronimo's Bones: A Memoir of My Brother and Me (2004).
External links
- Italie, Hillel, "Identity of Indian Memoirist is Disputed", Associated Press story on ABCNews.Go.Com, January 25, 2006. Retrieved July 30, 2006.
- Maul, Kimberly, "Agent Confirms Author Nasdijj and Gay-Erotica Writer Timothy Barrus Are Same Person", The Book Standard, January 27, 2006. Retrieved July 30, 2006.
- "Interview with Nasdijj", 2000, RebeccasReads (via Archive.org)
- Tim Barrus's blogs
- Tim Barrus's Youtube channel